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Explore Unitech connections « Mar 10
Chairman's Speech (Unitech) Year : Mar '11
Dear Shareholder,
 
 From both a macro and a Company level perspective, 2010-11 has been a
 step in the right direction.
 
 Let me begin with the macro-economic developments. Global economic
 output turned around from de-growth of 0.5% in calendar year (CY) 2009
 to a growth of 5% in CY2010. There are still some concerns with the
 economies of certain countries in the periphery of EU, the rising
 fiscal deficits of leading advanced economies, especially USA, and the
 rising prices of commodities and oil. But, by and large, business and
 consumer sentiments are positive and there has been a significant
 reduction in risk perception of the global economy.
 
 Back home in India, GDP grew by a healthy 8.5% in 2010-11, on the back
 of 8% growth in 2009-10.  Clearly, the economy is back to its high
 growth momentum and the average income level of the country is
 continuing to grow. The construction industry, which had grown by over
 10% in 2006-07 and 2007-08, had dropped to a growth of 5.4% in 2008-09.
 With improvement in general economic conditions, construction
 activities have increased and the industry grew by 8.1% in 2010-11.
 Such positive long-term trends both in the economy and in the
 construction space auger well for
 
 Indian real estate companies like Unitech.
 
 Over the course of 2010-11, end-user demand continued to flourish and
 residential real estate prices were upward bound. In another positive,
 commercial office leasing demand has witnessed a strong revival. This
 is primarily driven by an impetus in the IT sector. While this has
 resulted in improving occupancy rates, lease rentals remained stable
 during the year.
 
 As you are aware, after overcoming the difficult period post the global
 economic crisis of 2008, Unitech, in its core real estate business, has
 focused on monetising its large land bank. Over the years, the Company
 has developed a cost efficient and large pan-India land bank, which is
 diversified in terms of use and geography. The extent and diversity of
 this basic asset allows Unitech to offer various types of real estate
 product to cater to different segments of the market. The ability to
 effectively understand the changing needs of the customer and provide
 offerings that best suit the requirement is critical for success in the
 growing Indian real estate market. And, appropriate sub segmentation is
 very important.  
 
 While the stress has been on affordable and mid-income housing, Unitech
 continues to develop tailor-made products for the higher end of the
 market. Across the board there is emphasis on rapid launch and
 execution of projects. The highlights of the Company''s operational
 achievements in 2010-11 are:
 
 - Achieved sales bookings of 9.16 million sqft at an average
 realization of Rs. 4,720 per sqft.
 
 - Launched projects covering a total area of 10.44 million sqft.
 
 - Total value of Sales bookings was Rs. 4,323 Crores
 
 - Residential sales bookings of 7.61 million sqft valued at Rs. 3,305
 Crores
 
 - Non-residential sales bookings of 1.55 million sq ft valued at Rs.
 1,019 Crores
 
 - Delivered 4.25 million sqft of completed area
 
 In terms of financial performance, too, there were several positives.
 Income from operations increased by 8.7% to Rs. 3,187 Crores in
 2010-11. Company continued to reduce its debt during the year and the
 net debt to equity ratio was at 0.46 as of 31st March, 2011.
 
 Clearly, we have overcome the first round of challenges posed by the
 sudden erosion of demand in 2008 and have taken on a new set of
 challenges, which are more to do with establishing excellence in
 delivery. Going forward, the quality of execution will determine
 whether Unitech will move to the next level or not. And, this is where
 most of the Company''s attention is now centred. Personally, I feel
 improvements on this front can be game changers in the industry and we
 remain committed to this pursuit.
 
 In terms of sheer scale, the Company''s operations have expanded
 manifold and at a very fast pace. Today, Unitech has about 80 ongoing
 projects covering a total area of approximately 40 million sqft at
 various stages of development. These projects are spread over different
 geographies in India further increasing the complexity in terms of
 project execution.  However, with the internal initiatives undertaken
 on improving execution, we are confident of providing high quality
 housing to all our customers.
 
 In my letter to you last year, I had talked about the rationale and
 strategy for the various businesses under ''Unitech Infra''. While
 shareholder and creditor approvals have been received for demerging
 Unitech Infra Ltd. into a separate entity, approval from the Hon''ble
 High Court of Delhi is pending.  I am pleased to share with you that,
 with increased focus, Transmission towers and Facilities and Property
 Management businesses have shown significant improvement in performance
 during the year. Revenues from transmission towers business grew by
 91.6% to Rs. 183.6 Crores in 2010-11.
 
 While most of the developments in 2010-11 are positive, there are some
 challenges. Most importantly, due to rising inflation the Reserve Bank
 of India (RBI) has adopted a restrictive monetary policy, which has
 resulted in a steep increase in interest rates. In the long run, this
 could affect macro economic growth of the country as higher interest
 rates drive out investments. Already after four quarters of well over
 8% growth, India''s GDP growth has slowed down to 7.8% in Q4, 2010- 11.
 In particular, higher interest rates could adversely impact the buyer''s
 sentiment in the housing market. We, at Unitech have the advantage of a
 well spread out and diverse land bank. And, we are constantly focusing
 on offering a wide range of product keeping the target customers
 spending capabilities.
 
 Unfortunately, with regard to the ongoing telecom issue, I will not be
 able to share any of my views or facts, as the matter is subjudice.
 However, it is important for me to convey to you that I have full faith
 in the Indian judiciary and I am confident that Unitech Wireless
 (Tamilnadu) Private Limited will be able to defend itself in the Court
 of Law. Unitech Limited, the real estate company, will continue to
 focus on its core business activities - project launches, sales,
 project execution and delivery.
 
 I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the people working
 at Unitech. Your energy and commitment gives me full faith in pursuing
 even higher goals in the future. To all our vendors and subcontractors,
 I would like to emphasise the immense value that we see in our
 partnerships. I thank you the shareholders for continuing to repose
 faith in Unitech''s business model. Finally, to all our customers, we
 extend our gratitude for their belief in our products. And, let me
 re-iterate our commitment for quality delivery to them.
 
 Thank you,
 
 Ramesh Chandra
 
 Chairman
Source : Dion Global Solutions Limited
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